Boromir
He didnīt want to be the best, he just didnīt want to fail. He did not desire to be a king with a hot lady at his side, he just wanted to protect his people. His greatest fear was failing, and it was this fear that led him to his death.
Of course, as with all of Tolkienīs works, the roots of the characters are far more deeper than some would suspect. There is a little bit of Boromir in every one of us. He is the great soldier that doesnīt know which path to take.
The main issue he had? Galadriel detected it with a single glance: lack of hope. He didnīt understand how a little thing like a hobbit could change the world. He didnīt see the value of will, as he himself did not have much of it. He was one of those people who doesnīt understand much more than what is in front of their eyes.
Boromir did not believe Galadriel. "I see no hope". But there was hope, Boromir, albeit a faint one, about to be extinguished, easy to look over...but still there, amidst an ocean of darkness.
Boromir only saw the darkness in front of him, and chose to enter it and defeat it. He didnīt see the flare in the distance, and in the end, evilness consumed him. He was left morally destroyed by the ring, and then, in those brilliant seconds with him on the ground, he realizes it: there is hope.
Frodo. Sam. Merry. Pippin. The hobbits, who have resisted the corruption of the ring all along. I tried, and I failed.
They are the true heroes. They can beat Sauron. My people can be protected. There is hope. It is then that he raises his sword to defend the two little hobbits.
Because physical power is not the key; it is will power. I like this character because he represents an aspect of human being that I know and he reflects it perfectly.
If only you could have lived a little bit longer, Boromir, to see the great days of Gondor renewed. But your fate would not be that.